When Cherchez la Femme, a group dedicated to feminist causes, tried to run ads featuring plus-sized Tess Holliday for their body-positive event "Feminism and Fat," their ads were rejected as they violated Facebook's "Health and Fitness" policy. When a member of the group pressed for answers, here was Facebook's official response:

i actually think the priority was good, to combat the spam ads that has a close up of a muffin top and is like "want to get rid of this hideous fat??? use our diet pills!!!" or whatever. i think an algorithm went wrong/was over-inclusive IDK.

I never understood these types of comments. I mean, do you really need a medschool degree to see something as being generally unhealthy? Aren't there certain things that are commonly understood by the medical community to be harmful to the human body? (E.g smoking / tanning / being extremely overweight or underweight)?

As someone actually in medical school, it's LEGITIMATELY concerning that people don't see obesity as a disease and go that's "okay! Accept the fact that your body has scientifically measured excessive amounts of fat, it's totally normal!"

It's not normal. There are so many health risks involved, from increased risks of cancer to shorter lifespans, ALL with piles and piles of scientific proof.

That said, there's a difference between recognizing obesity as a disease and shaming individuals for being obese. Sometimes it's out of their control and you can't judge someone. Instead, the country as a whole should be combatting obesity through encouraging exercise and changing the components of foods (sugars, corn syrup, meal sizes) that have rapidly increased the obese population.

like wtf 2/3 of America are overweight or obese. And you can't tell me that the majority of those 2/3 are perfectly healthy individuals.